LIAM HAYES & PLUSH

FED and KORP SOLE ROLLER coming to vinyl for RSD 2018

CHICAGO, IL – Whether under his own name or as Plush, hearing Liam Hayes’ music has always been a little like discovering a hidden treasure.

NME declared Hayes’ 1995 debut single “Three Quarters Blind Eyes/Found A Little Baby” “almost implausibly lovely”; MOJO said it was “damn near perfect.” Since then, Hayes has pursued his singular and uncompromising vision, from solo piano songs to lush, complex orchestral pop. Painstakingly recorded over a period of three years and at staggering personal expense, FED is widely regarded as Hayes’ masterwork.

Originally released in 2002 exclusively in Japan, FED’s elusiveness only added to its considerable mystique. ”Plush's second album lives up to the acclaim it has garnered ever since,” The Guardian’s Betty Clarke wrote in 2008. “As nourishing as it is satisfying, Fed will leave you craving more.”

Pitchfork declared that “(FED’s) finer moments sit alongside the brilliance of Randy Newman's 12 Songs or Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson” while John Mulvey raved that FED was “The dazzling masterpiece he [Hayes, Plush’s sole constant member] always threatened to produce.” Rolling Stone named the album one of the year’s best. But limited distribution at the time prevented Fed from being heard by a wider audience.

Acclaimed UK all-vinyl label BE WITH RECORDS (www.bewithrecords.com) was determined not to allow Hayes' lifetime achievement to go unnoticed or let music fans across the world miss out on one of the finest albums of this century. Meticulously overseen by Hayes himself, alongside frequent collaborator Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) the Record Store Day edition of FED finally gives the album the love it deserves, with heavyweight vinyl cut at 45rpm for maximum sound quality and gorgeous full colour double-LP gatefold packaging.

An ideal companion to FED, Hayes’ spellbinding fourth album KORP SOLE ROLLER is also receiving its first vinyl release. Recorded in 2010 and produced by Pat Sansone, KORP SOLE ROLLER was released in an almost clandestine fashion in 2014, yet it's the album Hayes himself has described as standing alongside Fed in terms of its quality. As ever with Plush, it’s easy to imagine you are listening to a privately pressed rarity from the mid-to-late 1970s, or one of the criminally neglected jewels from the discography of Jimmy Webb or Burt Bacharach.

Until now, this dazzling orchestral pop achievement has rarely been heard and was only available on a pricey Japanese import CD. Be With Records presents the album as it was always meant to be heard, in a deluxe gatefold limited vinyl edition that’s as lush as the sounds contained therein.

Fed is strictly limited to 1000 copies; Korp Sole Roller is an edition of 500 copies.

Liam Hayes & Plush is that rarest of treasures—an uncompromising, deeply personal artist in the best tradition of 60s and 70s pop, and whose work has a voice all its own. Be With Records is proud to bring you a rare opportunity to own two of his best.

Liam Hayes and Patrick Sansone are available for select interviews. For interview and media requests, contact Cait Brennan at planetcait@gmail.com.

"Fed is something of a lost classic" - Mojo ****

"Fed can be finally heard as a testament to Hayes's widescreen obsessions." - Q ****

"It's a banquet of sonic gorgeousness." - NME 8/10

"...soulful symphonic masterpiece..." - Rolling Stone

“One of the most charismatic and eccentric cult pop craftsmen of the past 20 years” - UNCUT